August, 2003
Volume I, Issue 10

News

Can adoption of advanced information systems reduce the spiral in health costs?

Two contrasting views were recently aired on this issue. Dr. Molly Coye, founder and CEO of Health Technology Center, in a August 6 interview in IHealthbeat's web page, said that national adoption of CPOE could eliminate more than 2 million adverse drug events and 190,000 hospitalizations, saving the nation's health system about $44 billion annually.

Dr. Coye noted that the HHS, the Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense will soon adopt a new set of core data standards. Having all these major agencies using the standards "will drive the rest of the industry" and makes it "highly likely that we will have interoperable health care data systems on the market within the next two years."

A contrary view was offered in the August 6 online edition of The Washington Post. Steven Pearlstein, business and economy columnist, was pessimistic about curbing spending through technology.

"We're going to have to spend some money now (on technology) to save some money later, but we should be make sure it is well targeted.."

"It doesn't get to the heart of the problem. If we could wave a wand and have (a highly advanced) health information system, it would lop 25% off the cost of health care. That is huge, but it is a one-time event. It would bring us to a lower level and then we would still grow at 15% a year. Because the real driver of cost growth is utilization of more and better drugs and procedures."

Pearlstein concluded by saying the chances for "radical" or comprehensive healthcare reform were unlikely because "the majority of the voting American public wants what it has: a system where middle class folks have good coverage, where the poor can go to the ER for basic care and rich pay for lots of liposuction."

To read Pearlstein's entire discussion, see the newspaper's discussion page.

Trends

What do companies want from a public relations agency?

A recent survey found the "most important service" a PR agency can provide to its clients is media relations. Results of the customer survey, conducted by the Council of PR Firms, were detailed in an article by PR executive David Kratz in the July 28 issue of PR Week. Kratz said media relations is important to clients because "no other channel has toe ability to reach so many people in such a persuasive way."

Despite that fact, the companies in the survey only gave their PR agencies a "C+" score in media relations skills.

Discussing the poor grade, Kratz noted, "Though media relations (was) the service clients most wanted from their agencies, it hasn't been in vogue in our industry over the past few years. In fact, it is often referred to as merely a tactical consideration, something delegated to junior staff."

At Westside Public Relations, we are focused on one area: media relations for healthcare companies. We do not attempt to sell a package of unrelated services to clients. We are a small agency with three senior counselors, all of whom have extensive experience in health care media relations.

The PR Week article concluded, "Clients hire us to break through to the most influential media. They count on us to come up with the creativity, the strategy and the successful ability to get them there."

That is the bottom line in public relations. If your agency isn't delivering, it is time to look for another one.

Industry Insight

An article in the current issue of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's House Organ (a monthly newsletter) gives an inside look at how the school's clinical and IT leaders struggled over a decade to develop an effective CPOE system. The center introduced one early version that was hard to use and was withdrawn after physicians refused to use it.

The IT team went back to the drawing board and came up with an improved version. It impressed a group of clinical leaders who saw it first demonstrated in December 1994:

"We typed in a Gentamicin (an antibiotic) order 10 times too high...an alert immediately flashed at the bottom of the screen. The program identified the dose as being out of proper range and it reminded the assembled group of the patient's weight and last known serum creatinine levels, and based on these factors it presented a range for a safe and effective dose of Gentamicin."

"(Today) the system offers users tips relevant to their order, leads them to more in-depth information, and issues alerts when something doesn't appear right about an order. Alerts come with brief explanations and links to more complete information, and users can override any alert. The application issues around 500 alerts daily and roughly 25 percent of the time users elect to change the precipitating order. "

To read the complete article, see VUMC newsletter.

Resources

The above article was recommended by a member of "Caring" online discussion group. The organization is dedicated to advancing the integration of informatics "in practice, education, administration, and research with a focus on nursing."

The organization has 725 members in the US and 12 foreign countries. For a $20 annual subscription fee, you get a subscription to the quarterly, printed newsletter and access to the online discussion group. To signup, go to the Caring home page.

Although many of the online messages are devoted to routine nursing matters such as comparing academic degree programs, job openings and updates on conferences, about 25% of the messages contain candid, first-hand accounts of how various clinical information systems are currently working in hospitals.

For PR and marketing executives, it is a unique insight into the daily struggles of nursing informatics. If you get tired of the job opening messages, you can always dropout of the discussion list and just get the newsletter.

You are welcome to forward this publication to other public relations professionals for noncommercial use.

© 2003 Westside Public Relations. All Rights Reserved.